East Hampton High School Thespians Take on ‘Rent’

There is a line in the song “Seasons of Love,” from the rock opera “Rent,” that recounts the number of minutes in a year. It describes “525,600 moments so dear,” to be measured, ideally, in everyday things like sunsets, cups of coffee, and laughter.

The cast of East Hampton High School’s production of “Rent” will spend some of those moments in the spotlight this weekend, with a lineup of four shows between tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon. The cast has been rehearsing since mid-November and along the way its performers have taken to heart one of the show’s central themes, that of living life to the fullest.

“There are going to be bumps in the road and there are going to be ups and downs, but life goes on,” Frankie Bademci, a freshman who plays the role of Angel, said this week. “You live every moment like it’s going to be your last. That’s what I’ve learned in this show.”

“Rent” premiered on Broadway in April of 1996, winning a Tony Award for best musical that year, and ran for what was at one point a record-setting 5,123 shows until it closed in September 2008. Several national and international productions and a film adaptation followed. It tells the story of a community of friends surviving in the 1990s in New York City’s Alphabet City while coping with issues such as drug addiction, poverty, and illness. Its writer, Jonathan Larson, who died the night before the show’s Off Broadway premiere, won a Pulitzer Prize for his work. While the original show featured strong language and many references to drugs, sex, and alcohol, the version that will be presented this weekend at East Hampton has been toned down for a high school audience.

The cast said the content remained challenging. Frankie’s character, Angel, is gay, and the role involved dressing in drag. “It might be high school, but we have a lot of mature, older people in the cast,” he said. “I think we’ve all put on our big kid caps and big kid ears and I think we’ve all adapted to it.”

Gage Reimboth-Lynch, a senior who stars as Mark, an indie filmmaker, agreed. “It has sex, AIDS, drugs, alcohol. Big topics,” he said. “But what we’ve realized more and more is that it’s less about those. It’s more about this group of friends coming together.”

The school seemed able to embrace a show like “Rent,” Laura Sisco, an alumna of East Hampton who is directing the school musical for the first time this year. “I felt like this high school was ready for something more modern and challenging.”

The students’ feedback “was that they wanted something they could relate to more. This really gives them the opportunity to shine and brought them to the next level. Choosing a simpler show may not have done that for them.”

There were some naysayers along the way who thought “Rent” was an inappropriate choice for a high school musical, but Adam Fine, the principal, said in January that he was able to allay their concerns.

“It’s not about choosing one lifestyle or another, squatting in an apartment, or drugs. It’s about a community of people who are struggling together through life,” Mr. Fine said. “We want to push the limit, raise the bar. . . . They deserve this opportunity and I’m in full support of it.”

Ms. Sisco said the high school also had the talent to support the show, which has several vocally demanding leading roles. Yean Franco plays Tom Collins, a philosophy professor at New York University who is gay and living with AIDS. Amanda Fioriello, a senior, plays Mimi, an exotic dancer who is addicted to drugs and has H.I.V. Iris Arellano, another senior, plays Joanne, who is a public advocate and is the girlfriend of Maureen, a performance artist and activist who is portrayed by Olivia Salsedo, also a senior. Tyler Thompson, a sophomore, plays the role of Benny, a former roommate of Roger and Mark who now owns the building they live in.

At times the cast had to stretch to relate to their characters, but other times it came a little more easily. “Sometimes I struggle to create my own stuff, too. I feel that when I play Roger,” said Nick Pucci, a senior, who plays a broke, depressed musician living with H.I.V.

Sutton Lynch, a sophomore, did the bulk of the set design, which yielded a gritty, industrial setting that is sure to transport the audience straight to New York City circa 1996. Backing up the cast is an all-star crew and pit band, consisting of students, teachers, and professionals alike, working just as hard behind the scenes to make everything fall into place.

Show times are tomorrow at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets, which are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12, are only available for purchase at the door. Doors open 30 minutes before show time.

Ms. Sisco said the cast has all the right momentum as opening night approaches.

“I feel like they have really embraced the show and embraced the characters,” she said. “They have taken it seriously and taken it to a level that I have never seen in a high school production before, which is really, really cool.”